I'm starting the conversion. Sorry Aslan!

[Aslan]

I think this is completely false. I have seen a TON of 2-handed bowlers pop up in the last few years. Just because YOU or TV has not seen them, doesn't mean that it's not a boomin.
Again, this is my opinion, and that is yours.

Don't need to get your pink panties in a bundle now.

There may be more youngsters interested in throwing 2-handed...I'd agree with that. So hey, with kids I know it's important to be part of the "in crowd"...bowl 2-handed...its awesome. Get em to turn the lights out and use a glow in the dark 6lb ball....thats cool with youngsters nowadays too. Michigan is the greatest place in the world to live and 2-handed bowlers are the coolest and causeing bowling to resurge in popularity to the pre-1980s levels. Don't let stats get in the way of a good hypothesis!

[J Anderson]

Pro bowlers made more money than any other pro athletes (which sounds SO ABSURD nowadays).

I mean, "Bowlmor" bought AMF. AMF! Thats like a strip club owner from New York buying an old irish pub in rural Wisconsin.

I think I'm considerably older than you are. I remember watching the PBA on Saturday afternoons, when Billy Welu was doing the color commentary. I always thought it was completely unfair that the bowlers would be competing for top prize that would be about half of what the pro golfers had a chance of winning.

AMF! Yes , this is the same wonderful company that, when it owned Harley Davidson, produced motorcycles that had parts falling off of them as the new owners rode out of the dealer's lot. The AMF alleys in my area were already leaning toward the way Bowlmor is running things. I think Bowlmor will just kill them off faster.

[noeymc]

do what ever it is thats fun for you bowling is for fun 99.9% of us will never go pro just sayin

[DrOcktagon]

There may be more youngsters interested in throwing 2-handed...I'd agree with that. So hey, with kids I know it's important to be part of the "in crowd"...bowl 2-handed...its awesome. Get em to turn the lights out and use a glow in the dark 6lb ball....thats cool with youngsters nowadays too. Michigan is the greatest place in the world to live and 2-handed bowlers are the coolest and causeing bowling to resurge in popularity to the pre-1980s levels. Don't let stats get in the way of a good hypothesis!

I don't think anybody was implying that bowling is on some meteoric rise to "pre-1980's levels", but if you love the sport of bowling you should be happy about anything that might potentially get more people - particularly young people - interested.

More speed + more revolutions + a bigger hook + strikes with lots of pin action = more exciting and interesting to watch. Without a doubt Belmo and Osku are currently my two favorite bowlers to watch, and I watch a lot of bowling. Between the telecasts, XtraFrame, P-League, etc., I watch hours of bowling a week. When I was a kid I had 7 or 8 8-hour VHS tapes filled with bowling telecasts that I would watch over and over. My point is I'm not some casual fan, but I'm also not some 'purist' who pines for the 'good ole days when bowling was bowling'. Gimme a break.

I've been bowling for 30+ years, I bowl one-handed, always have and always will, but you better believe that if I had the athleticism necessary to throw a two-handed delivery I would absolutely try it out, at the very least. As it stands now, if I tried to throw two-handed I would probably break or tear something.

I have a 6-month-old son who I really hope develops a love for bowling similar to my own. But if he sees Belmo and Osku on TV and decides he wants to throw like them, I will definitely encourage him to do so.

Whenever I hear people complain about stuff like this I can't help but think they're a little jealous that they can't do it themselves.

[Aslan]

I think I'm considerably older than you are. I remember watching the PBA on Saturday afternoons, when Billy Welu was doing the color commentary. I always thought it was completely unfair that the bowlers would be competing for top prize that would be about half of what the pro golfers had a chance of winning.

Not to pick hairs...but you may be mistaken (See below):

The popularity of the sport in America was perhaps no more evident than when Don Carter became the first athlete of any kind to sign a US$1 million endorsement contract, inking a multi-year deal with Ebonite International in 1964. By comparison, Arnold Palmer earned just $5,000 in 1961 endorsing Wilson golf equipment, and NFL quarterback Joe Namath made just $10,000 in 1968 to famously shave off his moustache with a Schick razor.

[Aslan]

I don't think anybody was implying that bowling is on some meteoric rise to "pre-1980's levels", but if you love the sport of bowling you should be happy about anything that might potentially get more people - particularly young people - interested.

Zaxmazr implied that 2-handed bowlers were on the rise as if it was some great wave of new bowling enthusiasm. I haven't seen ONE 2-handed bowler in person or in leagues. I bowl 3-4 times a week. Now...I see plenty of young idiots "trying" to bowl 2-handed because it's easier and they don't really care. But I don't see it as much of a trend.

And I disagree with your premise...that if we can get more people interested...NO MATTER WHAT THE COST....that it's good for the sport. I already made a real...real comparison to paintball. I heard the same EXACT logic for why flashy, 32ball per second and automatic fire paintball markers were good because they would attract younger players to the sport. And they pretty much killed it. And I don't agree with Bowlmor or any of this new wave nonsense (like 2-handed bowling) that the only way to save bowling is to change it. It wasn't broken. It lost popularity...that happens. You wanna fix it? Find a way to bring back the blue collar leagues...get kids bowling early...teach them the REAL fundamentals...not 2-handed gimics.

But Bowlmor thinks if you make a bowling alley less about bowling and more about black lights and HD TVs that it'll "save bowling". And Zaxmazr seems to think if we encouraged 2-handed, over-handed, between the legs, over the shoulder, etc... styles that maybe that would save bowling. Now we celebrate guys like Belmo and Rash and Pete Weber...who have had very classless displays on the tour...because "they're cool". They're more exciting than Parker Bohn, or Earl Anthony or Walter Ray. But if you watch so much bowling...you probably saw Belmo lose the first major of 2013 TO Parker Bohn.

And while I don't LIKE Belmo...I don't think his antics are entertaining...I DO respect his talent. Not his 2-handed approach...but his ability to take an approach that is inherently hard to throw consistently...and adapt to lane conditions the way he does. Very few 2-handed bowlers can be as consistent as he can...because minute changes in lane conditions can drastically alter high hook approaches. Thats why you see 2-handed bowlers bowl 289 then 106 then 126 then 212 then 246. Because if they miss...it's REAL hard to pick up spares. You miss that break point...you leave some weird looking spares to pick up. But...the plus side of that approach is...if you hit that pocket...at least 9 pins are goin down.

And finally...whatever...you like it...etank likes it...Zazmazr likes it...13 year olds love it. To each their own. But if you have the right to "like" it...don't I have the right to "not" like it? Why do HAVE to like it?? Why isn't it okay to say I don't like it? It's a preference. It's not a fad...it's here to stay. Too many young bowlers are emulating Belmo...so as long as 1-4 of them makes it...and that Wesley kid in California WILL be a pro bowler eventually...and probably the best 2-handed bowler ever...so it's not going away. But that doesn't mean I have to accept it. Just like I don't have to go to a bowling alley that doesn't support leagues. It's my preference and my choice.

[DrOcktagon]

Zaxmazr implied that 2-handed bowlers were on the rise as if it was some great wave of new bowling enthusiasm. I haven't seen ONE 2-handed bowler in person or in leagues. I bowl 3-4 times a week. Now...I see plenty of young idiots "trying" to bowl 2-handed because it's easier and they don't really care. But I don't see it as much of a trend.

And I disagree with your premise...that if we can get more people interested...NO MATTER WHAT THE COST....that it's good for the sport. I already made a real...real comparison to paintball. I heard the same EXACT logic for why flashy, 32ball per second and automatic fire paintball markers were good because they would attract younger players to the sport. And they pretty much killed it. And I don't agree with Bowlmor or any of this new wave nonsense (like 2-handed bowling) that the only way to save bowling is to change it. It wasn't broken. It lost popularity...that happens. You wanna fix it? Find a way to bring back the blue collar leagues...get kids bowling early...teach them the REAL fundamentals...not 2-handed gimics.

But Bowlmor thinks if you make a bowling alley less about bowling and more about black lights and HD TVs that it'll "save bowling". And Zaxmazr seems to think if we encouraged 2-handed, over-handed, between the legs, over the shoulder, etc... styles that maybe that would save bowling. Now we celebrate guys like Belmo and Rash and Pete Weber...who have had very classless displays on the tour...because "they're cool". They're more exciting than Parker Bohn, or Earl Anthony or Walter Ray. But if you watch so much bowling...you probably saw Belmo lose the first major of 2013 TO Parker Bohn.

And while I don't LIKE Belmo...I don't think his antics are entertaining...I DO respect his talent. Not his 2-handed approach...but his ability to take an approach that is inherently hard to throw consistently...and adapt to lane conditions the way he does. Very few 2-handed bowlers can be as consistent as he can...because minute changes in lane conditions can drastically alter high hook approaches. Thats why you see 2-handed bowlers bowl 289 then 106 then 126 then 212 then 246. Because if they miss...it's REAL hard to pick up spares. You miss that break point...you leave some weird looking spares to pick up. But...the plus side of that approach is...if you hit that pocket...at least 9 pins are goin down.

And finally...whatever...you like it...etank likes it...Zazmazr likes it...13 year olds love it. To each their own. But if you have the right to "like" it...don't I have the right to "not" like it? Why do HAVE to like it?? Why isn't it okay to say I don't like it? It's a preference. It's not a fad...it's here to stay. Too many young bowlers are emulating Belmo...so as long as 1-4 of them makes it...and that Wesley kid in California WILL be a pro bowler eventually...and probably the best 2-handed bowler ever...so it's not going away. But that doesn't mean I have to accept it. Just like I don't have to go to a bowling alley that doesn't support leagues. It's my preference and my choice.

I actually agree with a lot of what you're saying, and I never said that you have to like two-handed bowling, but I do think you should accept it as a legitimate style, which it sounds like you may have. Believe me when I say that I would love nothing more than to see bowling return to glory. But I don't think, in any way, that two-handers are somehow stopping that from happening or, worse yet, making the sport worse.

Like I said, I'm a long-time bowling fan. Guys like Bohn, Duke, WRW, Goebel, Aulby, et al, are personal idols of mine. I grew up watching those guys and they are legends for a reason. But I would bet large sums of money(if I had any) that in 20 years people will be talking about Belmo being an idol and a hero and a legend. By the way, Parker Bohn is still one of my favorites to watch. Personally, however, I am fascinated by the two-handed approach. I love watching it.

And we definitely disagree about "class". I find Belmo to be very classy and I think he is a great ambassador for the sport.

And for the record, I can't stand blacklight bowling. That is something I consider to be very bad for the sport and I wish it would go away. Blacklight bowling only gets people interested in bowling in such a stupidly superfluous way. For me, a big part of bowling is actually watching the ball go down the lane. I need the lights on. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going away any time soon.

[Aslan]

And for the record, I can't stand blacklight bowling. That is something I consider to be very bad for the sport and I wish it would go away. Blacklight bowling only gets people interested in bowling in such a stupidly superfluous way. For me, a big part of bowling is actually watching the ball go down the lane. I need the lights on. Unfortunately, I don't think it's going away any time soon.

Agreed on all points.

I guess my only real disagreement is that Belmo is classy. His Sean Rash nonsense was like watching two 6th graders at an assembly.

[DLP]

Really, why does it matter THAT much?

LIke was stated in the attached video, the physical toll that two handed bowling takes is enormous. Bowling taxes the body already. At some point there will be two-handed bowlers that if they WANT to continue bowling, will have to modify their approach and release. An in some cases they will have to go back to traditional, because of torqued back, a crappy knee, and blown out shoulder....

But just like any sport that has someone who returns after and injury and has to change their style in order to perceiver, I really doubt an "I told you so" is going to matter much.

They (the two-handers) do what they do because it's what they want to do, they are comfortable with it, and happy with the results. Plain and simple.

[e-tank]

just got around to watching the video. Pretty crazy how the entire bolivian team converted and their averages sky rocketed

I am most definitely seeing more and more two handers when i bowl so id say its catching on